Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians

About
﻿﻿Treaty Date: September 19, 1853
Restoration Date: December 29, 1982
Number of Members: 1,536
Land Base Acreage: 1,840 acres (in trust)
Number of people employed by the Tribe: 1,100

Economy
﻿﻿The Cow Creeks were restored without reservation land in 1982. All land held by the tribe has been by purchase. The Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, featuring a casino, hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues, is the tribe’s main source of income. Several other businesses, such as the K-BAR cattle ranch in Rogue River, have been acquired in their economic diversification program. Since recognition, the tribe has developed housing, education and social services programs, business corporations, a utility cooperative, a charitable foundation, a tribal court system, and is one of the largest employers in
Douglas County.

Points of interest
﻿﻿Oregon’s Interstate-5 highway passes through Canyonville, the Seven Feathers Resort and the heart of Cow Creek’s homeland. The area is one of natural beauty and includes the Umpqua River, the Cascade Mountains, the Pacific Ocean and dunes and a growing wine industry.

History and culture
﻿The Cow Creeks lived between the Cascade and Coast Ranges in southwestern Oregon, along the South Umpqua River. They hunted deer and elk and fished silver salmon and steelhead as far north as the Columbia River, east to Crater Lake, and south to the Klamath Marsh.

Except for the purpose of the Termination Act in 1954, which called for the immediate termination of federal relations with more than 60 tribes in western Oregon, the Cow Creek’s Treaty of 1853 was ignored by the U.S. government for over 128 years until federal recognition in 1982.